Jack’s £1 profit is £1.7bn 80 years on

JACK COHEN’S profit from his first day in business was £1. More than 80 years later, Tesco, the company he founded, has just reported annual profits of £1.7 billion.

A 21-year-old Mr Cohen returned from serving with the Royal Air Force during the First World War in 1919 and invested £30 of his reward for military service to buy surplus food stockpiles. He opened a little stall in East London and gradually expanded to other markets all over London.

The name Tesco contains the initials of the owner of a firm supplying the stalls with tea, TE Stockwell, and part of Jack's surname Cohen.